YA Books Everyone Should Read!

This week, I am taking a brief departure from the world of screens to talk about books, those wondrous fossils of yore. Specifically, young adult books. For me, YA novels have always had the capacity to bring calm. Harry Potter is what I turn to whenever the real world seems too scary – I’m looking at you, 2016 election. I remember a particularly weird year of high school where I was constantly rereading the last half the Ramonaseries, trying to get a grasp on what it all meant through the words of Beverly Clearly (which, really, wasn’t that bad of a plan). YA gets a bad rap for being not as well written as “real books,” but this couldn’t be further from the truth. YA is awesome. And, since we couldn’t be living in stranger times, here is a list of 10 YA novels that everyone (EVERYONE) should read.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Gaiman is famous for Coraline, which I wouldn’t recommend to anyone unless you like being scared out of your mind. The Graveyard Book is just as good (better, I think) and tells the story of a boy growing up in a graveyard. I remember checking this out from the library in elementary school and being completely blown away, and I am definitely due for a reread.

The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

This suggestion may be viewed with scorn, given the presence of quotes from the book on Tumblr, but don’t let this dissuade you. The book is quoted for a reason. Stephen Chbosky also published an additional letter from Charlie in the 20th-anniversary edition of this book, which you can find him reading with Emma Watson (who starred in the book’s film adaptation) on the internet. I try and try and try to get my brother to read this book – he’s a senior in high school, which is the perfect time to read it – to no avail. Don’t miss out like him. Read this book.

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

When You Reach Me is the most peaceful science-fiction book you’ll ever read. And if you need another reason to read this, New Yorker staff writer Jia Tolentino cites it as “her favorite book no one else has heard of.”

(More on that here: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/01/books/review/by-the-book-jia-tolentino.html)

The Witches by Roald Dahl

This book was singlehandedly responsible for me not being able to sleep from the ages of 7 to 8. Danny the Champion of the World, The Twits, Fantastic Mr. Fox – anything by Roald Dahl is well worth reading until the end of time.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisernos

Written as a series of vignettes, while this book is short and digestible it is hard to forget. I wrote about this book on the AP literature exam, so it really came in handy later down the road in ways I never anticipated.

Forever by Judy Blume

I read this the summer after high school, because Judy Blume is my fairy godmother. If you’re going to take anything from this list, just read Blume’s entire bibliography. And while Forever is not my favorite book she’s written (nothing will top Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great or Freckle Juice, of course), it offers an almost too-real look at first love and high school. It might come across as a little dated, as it was written in the 70s. But Blume’s validation of the emotions of teenagers is just as necessary today as it was then.

Antsy Does Time by Neal Shusterman

I recently (yesterday) found out that Neal Shusterman also wrote the Scythe series and the Unwind series, so he has truly made his mark on the YA world. I’ll always think Antsy Does Time is his best work, though – the premise fascinated me as a kid. Antsy signs off a month of his life to his terminally ill friend, sparking many of his classmates and community members to do the same. But is his friend really as sick as he claims? Funny and dark, this is the second installment in the Antsy Bonano series. I never read the first book, and while I’m sure it’s just as good, Antsy Does Time is the must-read.

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

My middle-school-self was slightly confused by the book-within-a-book setup of The Princess Bride, but after confirming that this was, indeed, how the book was written and I wasn’t reading some strange abridged version, I was hooked. If you love the movie, the book is equally as hilarious and magical.